PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reportedly met with EU regulators to discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it intends to purchase publishing giant Activision for just shy of $70 billion. This would be the biggest acquisition in the history of gaming both financially and in terms of its impact. Activision owns a ton of the best developers in the industry and prized IP such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, and most importantly, Call of Duty. The FPS franchise is not only the one of the biggest gaming franchises, but one of the biggest IP in the entire entertainment industry. It consistently rakes in billions of dollars and is a top seller every year. As such, PlayStation has expressed concerns over what might happen if Microsoft decided to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive.
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Xbox has noted that it plans to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, just like Minecraft, but there is still concern over making the series a first-party IP. As reported by Dealreporter and Seeking Alpha, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan went to visit the European Commission on September 8th in Brussels. PlayStation reportedly voiced its concerns that Microsoft could “limit access” to the Call of Duty franchise if this deal goes through. European regulators have until November 8th to make a decision on the deal, per a filing on the regulator’s website. As of right now, it’s unclear which way the regulators will swing, but Sony is certainly trying to plead its case as best as it can.
Should the deal go through, Microsoft plans to bring Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass. Given Microsoft still plans to honor PlayStation’s marketing deal with the series for the next three years, it’s unclear if future Call of Duty games will come to Xbox Game Pass on day one like other first-party titles. It’s possible Microsoft may have to wait until PlayStation’s deal concludes before doing so.
What do you think about the Microsoft/Activision deal? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
